@otamajakushi this show doesn't seem to aim for technical accuracy and I guess the term "2 gigs" is just used to quickly convey the meaning to the viewer as we're used to such caps for mobile data tariffs.
I definitely agree though that it makes little sense and that for technical accuracy it's a bad idea to pick a unit that we're familiar with (e.g., they could've simply used percentages).
Anyway, I think what the 2 GB might refer to here is the simulation data. A person (mostly their brain / neural net) is basically digitized and stored. After that you can run computations for this simulations that alter that data (thinking basically alters state/data). Aditionally, e.g., our eyes basically stream data into our brains (quite a lot of data, IIRC). And we also output data by interacting with the environment (speaking, moving objects, etc.). One could theoretically measure (and of course limit) such data streams but would be a really dramatic measure and should induce quite some overhead (it might be much better to limit the computing/processing time (or priority) instead which is currently already commonly used for shared computing (but slowing down the processing would either alter your perception of time or "lower your IQ" - so pausing your simulation seems like a better idea and the user should be able to decide when to pause before hitting a hard threshold of available compute time), etc.).
In regards to the concept of "2 gigs" (a free plan) the following video from Tom Scott is much better IMO (still comedy but unfortunately something like this could also become a reality - depending on were we'll be heading): https://youtu.be/IFe9wiDfb0E
Review by OtamajakushiVIP 11BlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-15T06:11:16Z
I loved this episode but the "2gigs" kinda threw me off. I understand the need to have the concept of 2gigs, to show disparity between the wealthy and the have-nots. That's wholy valid. But even in today's world, 2 gigs of data is nothing. I would hope 2 gigabytes in 2033 would be even less significant.
I'm going to go for a little braindump while I try to understand this.
Is it 2 gigs of data transfer per month? If so, not very substantial, and I don't think they're sending data outside of their local network. NOTE: We'll find out in episode 10 that 2gig Uploads can send and receive phone calls, and interact with the outside world in some capacity. So 2 gigabyte cap, vaguely makes sense then. Regardless, why not limit the data rate or priority (for internal data transfers) at that point?
It must be a 2 gig limit of data storage? If so, still very much essentially nothing. Also, the data doesn't go away when they've reached their limit, so this isn't the reason either.
I don't quite understand any of it from a literal perspective. What does 2 gigs represent? Nora says these individuals only get 2 gigs of data per month. Data what? Lakeview is supposed to be an upscale, posh environment, so why are there 2gig Uploads at Lakeview anyways? They can't leave their room, and they're obviously being treated poorly. What a terrible afterlife.
This is the only hang-up I have with UPLOAD. It's not a deal-breaker, by any means, but it definitely took away from my immersion.